Relative and Parallel Keys
This section will cover both Relative Keys and Parallel Keys, since these two can sometimes be confused.
Relative Major/Minor Keys
Relative keys are major and minor keys that have exactly the same notes but start on different notes. An example of relative keys is C Major and A Minor.
C Major: C D E F G A B
A Minor: A B C D E F G
Notice that these two scales contain exactly the same notes, yet they start on different notes (or have different
tonics). A Minor is the
relative minor of C major. Likewise, C Major is the
relative major of A minor.
The
relative minor of any major key starts is the
6th scale degree of the major key. To verify, look at the C major scale above, notice that "A" is the 6th scale degree in the key of C major. This works for ANY major key.
The
relative major of any minor key starts on the
3rd scale degree of the minor key. Look at the A minor scale above and notice that "C" is the 3rd scale degree in the key of A minor. This works for ANY minor key.
Lastly, here is a way to help remember the definition for relative keys:
if a major key and a minor key have the same "family of notes" then they are "related".
Parallel Keys
Parallel keys are a major key and a minor key share the same starting note (
tonic) but do not share all of the same notes. An example of parallel keys is C Major and C Minor.
C Major: C D E F G A B
C Minor: C D Eb F G Ab Bb
C Minor is the
parallel minor to C Major. Likewise, C Major is the
parallel major to C Minor.
In other words, if a major key and a minor key are built off of the same note (in this case "C") then these two keys are parallel keys.